The US president calls the riots “acts of domestic terror”. Two people died in protests in a Chicago suburb.
US President Donald Trump has announced tough crackdown on rioters in the face of anti-racism protests and has threatened to deploy the army. In a speech in the Rose Garden of the White House, Trump described the riots on Monday as “acts of domestic terror”.
If the cities and states affected do not take the necessary measures, he will send soldiers to “quickly solve the problem for them”. He referred to an old law from 1807, the so-called “Insurrection Act”. This has been used by presidents several times in US history – but mostly on behalf of governors and local authorities. Against their will, according to prevailing legal opinion, the president does not have the authority to send federal troops to US citizens against American soil.
Trump has repeatedly urged democratic governors and mayors to crack down on rioters and accused them of weakness. On Monday evening, the Republican again asked governors to deploy enough National Guard forces to bring the streets back under control.
Democratic governors indignantly rejected Trump’s push. The state governor of Illinois, J. B. Pritzker, told CNN that the president had no legal basis to deploy the U.S. military to states. His colleague Gretchen Whitmer, state governor of Michigan, said Trump could not use the military without her consent. Whitmer called Trump’s statements “dangerous and shocking”.
For the capital Washington – the President has this right – Trump has announced the use of “thousands of heavily armed” soldiers and police officers to “stop rioting, looting, vandalism, attacks and the deliberate destruction of property”. Trump described the outbreaks of violence during the protests in Washington as “total shame”.
“President of Law and Order”
The organizers of the “terror” would face severe prison terms. Once again, the president made Antifa activists responsible for the riots. He described himself as the “President of Law and Order”. Critics have accused Trump of using the statements to fuel tensions in the past few days, instead of working to reconcile and calm the situation.
The riots after the death of African-American George Floyd in a police operation recently also occurred in the immediate vicinity of the White House. On Monday evening, the security forces again used tear gas against protesters who had gathered near Trump’s headquarters.
Outrage over Bible photo
Immediately after his address, the president walked to a church near the White House that had been damaged in the protests the night before. There he held up a Bible for a photo. The police action gave Trump and his entourage – including Justice Minister William Barr and his spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany – safe conduct for the walk to church.
“I’m outraged,” said Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Diocese of Washington, CNN. Trump’s message is contrary to church teaching, she said. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, also criticized the use of violence to clear Trump’s way for a photo opportunity: “It was really, really shameful.” Political commentators described the scene as an election campaign appearance and a “Show Act”.
In New York – the largest city in the United States – a nightly curfew was imposed from 11 p.m. after another partly violent protests. In the Brooklyn neighborhood, thousands of people also marched after the curfew, according to a CNN reporter who accompanied the demonstrators. Looting continued in the New York City borough of Manhattan, as could be seen on television pictures. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also issued a curfew for Wednesday night.
Dead people in suburban Chicago
In Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, two people lost their lives in the protests, media reports. At least 60 people were arrested, according to NBC and CBS, citing local government officials. Looting is said to have occurred in the city, including in a liquor store.
In St. Louis, Missouri, four police officers were shot during protests, police said. The police were taken to hospitals. According to the first statements, the injuries are not life-threatening. At first, it was not known who had fired the shots.
George Floyd dies as a trigger
George Floyd was killed in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Monday last week. White policeman Derek Chauvin had pressed his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for almost nine minutes, although Floyd repeatedly complained that he couldn’t breathe. The officials had arrested the African American for allegedly paying for cigarettes with counterfeit money.
A video of the incident triggered horror and outrage across the country. There have been repeated violent riots alongside demonstrations against racism and police violence against blacks.
The Official autopsy confirmed that Floyd had been killed by the police force. The cause of death is a cardiovascular arrest as a result of “pressure on the neck” during a police operation, according to the autopsy report published one week after the incident. The type of death is “homicide”, which can be translated as “homicide” or “homicide”. At the same time, however, the autopsy report emphasizes that this is not a legal classification of “guilt or intent”. The decision is up to the judiciary, not the coroner.
Trump spoke briefly of Floyd’s death in his speech and promised “justice”. Police officer Chauvin was arrested last week and officially accused of manslaughter. Floyd’s family, however, demands a murder charge. Three other police officers involved in the Floyd operation were released like Chauvin, but are still at large.
(APA / dpa / AFP)
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